Improvements needed in air-defence says president

The Polish president has called for improvements in air-defence procedures after it emerged that a foreign ballistic missile may have flown halfway across Poland before crashing into a forest near the northern city of Bydgoszcz.

The incident is now subject to an investigation but it appears an airborne military object, quite possibly an unarmed Russian missile, entered Polish airspace.

"There is some trouble with the procedures, which were introduced a long time ago," said the president, referring to tracking. "They were there, but they were never implemented because we have never been in this kind of situation before."

Asked if he had read a defence ministry report on the incident, Duda said he had, but remained coy on the subject.

"I have my own thoughts here," he said. "But please understand... that the details of this report should not be openly discussed in the media.

"We are analysing this, and improvements will be introduced, also in Nato procedures," Duda added.

According to the Polish Defence Ministry, the missile fell to earth on December 16, 2022. But an investigation was only launched after it was found.